Sportsbeat reporter tries his hand at judo

By Ben Baker, Sportsbeat

HOW would you react to the news that you were off to a judo experience with the Great Britain team at there Performance Institute with some of their up and coming stars ready to demonstrate their skills on you? That is exactly how I felt...

FIGHT CLUB: (L-R) British Judo head coach Patrick Roux, British judoka Lewis Keeble, Sportsbeat reporter Ben Baker and double Olympic medallist Kate Howey

But trepidation soon turned to excitement after I had put the phone down to my boss who had only just broken the news to me as I was enjoying a lazy Sunday in front of the TV.

I have always enjoyed martial arts and even took up Taekwondo at school - collecting my black belt before I went off to University and forgot everything I had learnt.

So I had some sort of hand-to-hand combat - it's pretty essential if you are going to have a night out in Uxbridge - so I'd be fine wouldn't I?

So I managed to resist the urge to upright myself from my traditional horizontal Sunday position and go down the gym to cram an extra session in. I want to be fresh for tomorrow I convinced myself.

I don't know whether it was excitement of nerves but I arrived in Dartford almost an hour early than advised to by Team 2012 Visa, the guys who had laid on the experience for myself and a few more reporters in line with their sponsoring of the athletes in the build up to London 2012.

But after a quick coffee the rest of the party turned up and we were ushered into a room to await instructions for the day from Margaret Hicks, British Judo performance director.

After a quick presentation on the recent successes the British Judo team have enjoyed, Margaret took us into a viewing area of the Dojo to watch a training session unfold.

There below me were 30 or 40 judokas practising on each other - from take downs to submission holds to the odd strangling hold in the corner - it was all going on.

They were good - very good. All eager to get involved, no one shying away and all quite capable of beating me up right across the floor.

But that wasn't the only impressive thing as the facilities themselves are second to none. A large hall has plenty of room to accommodate all the British fighters, and the Canadian and Brazilian teams they were hosting that week for extra training.

We were then shown around and had a chat with the strength and conditioning guys as well as physiotherapists who were busily repairing those carrying knocks described as ‘inevitable' in their line of work.

I made a mental note of where the facility was as I had a feeling it might come in useful later.

GETTING TO GRIPS: Sportsbeat's Ben Baker learns the hard way at the British Judo Performance Institute on Dartford

And then it was down to business. We were handed a fresh ‘Gi' and changed into it preparing for battle.

And much to my relief those invited to the day were paired with each other and I was saved from a beating from a Team GB member - or they were saved from me should I say.

The first thing we learnt was how to break fall - a key ingredient so we don't do ourselves any harm.

Now I am pretty good at falling I think. I have down it many times before, but this was different.

There was so much to think about - landing on a certain part of your back, tucking your neck in so you don't bang your head, slamming your hand on mat to absorb some of the force, not crossing your legs...

I am not going to lie, I struggled. If I couldn't master this how was I going to be turned into a bona fide force to be reckoned with? It wasn't looking good.

The session was led by Kate Howey, a double Olympic medallist and Great Britain head coach, Patrick Roux.

They were great and we very patient in teaching us, going on to teach us a couple of trips and then a throw over our hips (which I was pleased I could do and was feeling good about myself until they broke the news to me that this is the second move they teach and that small kids master it pretty quickly).

But that didn't take anything away from me thoroughly enjoying myself and my time on the mat. Kate and Patrick were great teachers and were happy to talk.

More happy to demonstrate on us though. Patrick wasn't the tallest or biggest man, but he was tough. He was solid and when he came over to demonstrate something you just knew he could have flipped my around and slammed me into the mat at any point.

But he didn't much to my relief and he and Kate were brilliant and it was a great experience - one I would definitely recommend.

British Judo has gone from strength to strength in recent years and with London 2012 now less than two years away, the target of two medals seems well within reach.

As for myself it was less Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and more like Falling Idiot, Whimpering Embarrassment.

Visa is proud to be presenting partner of team 2012, a team of 1200 athletes across the UK who are aiming to compete at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games